Who I can Trust
by Arwennicole
Summary: A three-shot story, while Natasha was helping Steve in Winter Soldier, what was going on with Clint during all of this? Slightly AU for some scenes.
1. Chapter 1

Who I can Trust

By

Nicole

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of _Marvel's_ characters.**

**Summary: A three-shot story, while Natasha was helping Steve in _Winter Soldier_, what was going on with Clint during all of this? Slightly AU for some scenes.**

Who I can Trust

Chapter 1: The Call

Natasha's body was aching as she was cleaning herself up from the missile that could've killed both her and Steve if it weren't for the fact he reacted quickly and in turn it saved her life. She was staring at the wall in silence, her fingers tracing over the arrow around her neck. Swallowing, she reached over and grabbed Sam's phone, dialing a familiar number. "Hello?" a voice answered.

"Clint…" she said with a sigh.

She could hear a sigh of relief on the other end. "Nat, where are you? Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, I'm just hiding out for a minute, had a rough night," she replied.

She pushed her hair over her shoulder as she leaned forward a little. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"We're both fine, we're just having a blast," Clint answered.

The Black Widow smiled a true smile, her eyes closing for a second. "Can I talk to her?" she asked.

"Sure," he answered.

She could hear the phone being passed to another set of hands. "Hi, mommy!" a little voice said excitedly into the phone. Natasha couldn't help but smile.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you? Are you having fun with daddy?" she asked.

"Yeah," she answered.

Natasha smiled, feeling her heart swell a little more of the love she had for the child she was speaking with. A child that shouldn't even exist, but yet she did by some…miracle. Natasha frowned a little, she didn't want to use that word, but when a child was conceived after a woman had been told her reproductive organs were destroyed…it had to be something. Then that same child that was growing within her was thought to not survive after birth because of all of the experiments the Red Room did to her.

A child…a child that on the day she went into labor it was in the middle of a thunderstorm in April, the power had gone completely out. Natasha gave birth in her room and Clint was the first one to hold their screaming daughter when she entered the world. The first time the assassin shed tears was when that baby was placed in her arms and she looked at her mother with Clint's grey eyes, her tiny hands just barely able to grasp her pinky finger. The only one who saw said tears was the man she now called her husband. "Mommy?" the little voice asked on the phone, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Mama's here," she answered.

"Mommy, when oo come home?" the three-year-old asked.

Natasha let out a sigh. "I won't be home for a little while, she has a big job to do with Mr. Steve," she told the child. She could hear the little girl pout on the other end of the phone.

"No stowy tonight?" the little girl asked.

"Not tonight. Daddy will tell you the story tonight," Natasha replied.

"Otay," the little girl said with a sigh.

"Can I talk to daddy again? Mommy has to go," she stated.

"I wuv oo mommy," the little girl

"I love you, Rowena. So much," Natasha answered.

She heard the phone get passed again and ran her fingers through her hair. "What's on your mind?" he asked. Natasha stared at the carpeted floor.

"Just that everything we were trained to fight for was all a lie," she answered.

Clint was silent on his end of the phone. "I'm sorry I brought you into this, here I thought bringing you to SHIELD would've given you a second chance in living, but instead I brought you to an even bigger nightmare than the KGB," he murmured.

"I'm not sorry," she answered.

She smiled a little. "You and Rowena are the only two good things that have come out of all this," she murmured. She heard him chuckle softly into the phone. "What do we do now?" she asked.

"We do what we have always done, Nat, we protect each other and we protect Rowena," he answered, "This is our mission for life."

"Right," she agreed.

Letting out a deep breath, she gripped the phone. "I love you, Nat, forever," he murmured into the phone.

"Forever, Hawk," she answered before hanging up.

She sat down and started to dry her hair some more when Steve came out of the bathroom. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied simply.

Steve sat across from her and she let out a sigh. "This is why I shouldn't let feelings overrun everything. Makes you worry too much about that person or people," she murmured.

"Talking about Clint and Rowena?" he asked.

Natasha looked at him and she nodded her head slowly. "It's something worth fighting for, look at it that way," he answered, "You and Clint have a family to fight for, and that's a lot more to lose."

"It is," Natasha murmured as she stared at the towel in her hands.

She smirked a little. "You know, I was told when I was first brought to SHIELD during my first physical that my reproductive organs have been compromised to the point that a pregnancy would be impossible and even if a pregnancy could ever happen, it would be impossible to carry the fetus to term," she answered. Steve stared at her. "Found out I was pregnant two months after Clint came back from New Mexico," she murmured.

She smiled a little at the memories of when she found out she was pregnant, how excited Clint had been at the idea of becoming a father, while she refused to allow herself to get attached. "Every day for the next seven months I refused to let myself get attached to her, because I was told she wouldn't survive after the birth," she murmured.

"Then she was born," Steve answered.

She nodded her head slowly. "Everything changed when I heard her first screams," she murmured, "I remembered holding her in my arms, just looking at her and promising I would never let anyone hurt her. Promising no one would ever take her away from me." Natasha rubbed the back of her neck. "Then I find out that I left the KGB for Hydra….everything's different now," she murmured.

"You have a family to fight for, a family to protect from Hydra. Natasha, I promise nothing will happen to Clint or Rowena," he assured her, resting his hand on her leg.

She nodded, resting her hand over his before the two of them started talking about what they had learned from Zola.


	2. Clint's Side

Chapter 2: Clint's Side

**(A Day Earlier)**

Clint was in the playroom with his daughter Rowena. The three-year-old was constantly running around, playing with all of the other toys that were in the room. Her sandy-blond curls bounced around her shoulder while her green eyes sparkled with excitement in the fluorescent lighting. The little girl saw her daddy sitting in the middle of the floor and ran over, jumping into his lap. "Don't hurt daddy," he said laughing.

He kissed his daughter's forehead and she snuggled up to him, grasping his ring finger and playing with the silver gold band around his ring finger. "When mommy coming home?' she asked.

"She'll be home soon, sweetheart, she' working," he answered.

The little girl pouted, sitting in her daddy's lap as she was tracing the lines on his hand. Clint smiled, kissing her forehead gently. "Agent Barton," a voice called out as the doors opened. Clint looked up as two SHIELD Agents came in. "You need to come with us, sir, Director Fury wishes to speak with you," one agent told him. Clint looked at his daughter, having her stand up on her feet.

"I have to go talk to Mr. Fury about fighting bad guys okay?" he told her.

She nodded her head slowly sadly and Clint held up her favorite stuffed animal, a black hawk with a Black Widow symbol in its stomach. "Here's Mr. Blackhawk," he told her smiling as he placed the bird in her arms, "Can daddy get a kiss?" The little girl pressed a kiss to her daddy's lips. "I love you, sweetheart," he told her.

"Wuv oo daddy," she answered.

She watched as he stood up and left the room. Like she normally did, she sat in the middle of the playroom, ignoring the rest of the kids in the room and just cuddled with her stuffed animal.

As Clint walked down the hall with the two agents, he became aware of something about this. One, normally it was Hill who came to get him if Fury need to speak with him. Two, since when they start escorting him to Fury's office? He looked to his left to see one of them holding their gun. Suddenly, his phone started going off and he reached into his jacket to check his text message, it was from Natasha and it said only two words:

SHIELD COMPROMISED

Clint put his phone back in his pocket. Then he reached for the knife that was right next to the phone. Before the Agents could react, Clint swung out with his knife, cutting the one on his left in the wrist to make him unable to grab his gun. He struck out, kicking the man's feet out from under him before he ducked as one tried to use the tazer on him. He swung a punch at his head when the man blocked it and thrust the tazer into his middle, which Cling blocked, twisting his wrists around easily he heard them both break before he took the man's head, throwing it into the nearest wall.

Running back down the hall towards the play room, he heard the alarms starting to go off. "Shit," he muttered. He knew he had only thirty seconds to get back to the room before they put it on total lockdown. He ran into the room, finding his daughter where he had left her.

"Daddy!" she gasped.

"Come on, sweetheart, we have to go," he told her, picking her up.

"HEY!" one of the caretakers called out.

Clint held onto his daughter as he jumped between the doors just as they were closing for the lockdown. "Agent Barton, what the hell is going on?" Hill demanded.

"SHIELD's been compromised, I just had two agents try to kill me," Clint replied as the two of them rushed down the hall.

"Mommy?" Rowena asked, looking around.

"Mommy's with Mr. Steve, sweetie," he answered as they ran around a corner.

They saw agents running down the hall at them and Clint looked at Hill. "Take her and go to the jet," he ordered.

"You don't make the orders…" she started to say.

"DO IT!" Clint shouted angrily

Hill held onto Rowena as she ran down the hall towards the jet. He punched one agent in the face before he jumped and kicked another one in the chest, sending him flying into a group of his men that sent them all to the floor. He grabbed his gun from his holster, firing shots. "Dammit, I need my bow," he muttered. He rolled across the floor as one tried to hit him in the face with a tazer. He jumped back to his feet, running as fast as he could down the hall towards the weapons area that wasn't far from him.

Reaching his locker, he took his gun and fired a shot, breaking the lock. Swinging the door open, he grabbed his bow and quiver, pressing a combination on his bow as the arrows changed arrowheads. Grabbing a bow, he fired one it into an agent that ran around the corner, running out of the locker room as the arrow exploded. He fired another arrow, the little weapon landing in front of group of men. "TAKE COVER!" one shouted.

Clint grabbed one man by his arm that was aiming for the back of his neck with a knife, throwing him over his shoulder. He took his knife, stabbing it through the agent's knee to keep him from getting back up. Rushing down the hall, he hit another combination on his bow before firing another shot. "Shit," he muttered as they started shooting their guns at him. He took off running towards the top deck.

He saw the jet waiting for him. "HILL! TAKE OFF!" he shouted. He ran towards the jet, jumping inside, shouting "GO!" Hill took off without another word.

"What the hell is happening?" Hill demanded.

"I have no clue," Clint replied.

He looked at his daughter who was staring at him with wide eyes. "It's okay, baby, it's okay," he assured her, sitting next to her and hugging her.

"Where's mommy?" she asked.

"Mommy's fighting bad guys," he replied, pulling his daughter into his lap.

The little girl cuddled into his chest as he stared out at the vast ocean. "Where do we go?" Hill asked.

"To the safe house," he replied.

He let out a deep breath as he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out his now destroyed phone that blocked a bullet from hitting his chest. "Great, Hill, contact Nat," he told her.

"Our communications are down," Hill answered.

He cursed under his breath, holding his daughter close as the little girl still cried over the fear of what was going on.

When they arrived at the new bunker, Clint got out of the jet, holding his daughter on his hip. "Report," he told the agent.

"Director Fury is right now in surgery," an agent answered.

"Are we going with Operation Underground?" Hill asked.

"Operation what?" Clint asked.

"Something you don't have clearance for, Agent, can you get Agent Barton a phone so he can get a hold of Romanoff?" she asked.

The agent handed him a phone and he was escorted away.

Sitting in an office he let out a deep breath when he was finally able to get a hold of Natasha when Rowena walked up to him, her little arms wide open for him to pick her up again. "Come here, little one," he murmured, holding his daughter in his arms. The three-year-old started playing with the ring around her daddy's finger. "We're safe here, sweetheart, no one will hurt us here," he assured her.

"Mommy?" she asked.

"She'll join us soon," he assured her.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "She'll join us soon," he whispered.


	3. Family First

Chapter 3: Family First

Clint walked down the hall of the cave with Rowena on his hip. The three-year-old was clutching the stuffed bird in her arms. "Agent Barton, I suggest you wait until Agent Romanoff…" an agent tried to tell him.

"Hey! There she is," Clint said smiling as he set Rowena down and the little girl ran to Natasha.

"Mommy!" she called out and Natasha picked her daughter up, being careful with the injury in her shoulder from the Winter Soldier.

Natasha looked at her daughter with a smile on her face. "Look at you, you're getting so big," she murmured, holding her daughter close.

"I big giwl," Rowena answered.

"You're growing to be a very big girl, mommy missed you so much," Natasha whispered into her daughter's hair, rubbing her back.

Clint walked over, crouching slightly beside her as he kissed her cheek and Natasha used her free arm, pulling her husband close to her and rested her forehead against the top of his head as his arms wrapped around his family, holding them close to him.

Sam was standing on the other side of the room with Steve, watching the little family reunion in front of him. The one time the Black Widow lost her tough solder façade when it came to her family. "Didn't know she had a family," Sam commented

"Not a lot of people do," Steve answered.

Clint stood up and looked over at the two men standing there. "Thank you, for watching out for her," he told Steve, shaking his hand.

"She's a friend," Steve answered.

Clint nodded in agreement and looked at Sam. "Who's this?" he asked.

"Sam Wilson," Sam answered.

"Ah right, Hill told me what you tried to do for Natasha, thank you," he told the man.

Sam nodded and looked over to see Natasha rocking a little in her chair silently, resting her cheek against the top of the little girl's head as said little girl was beginning to doze in her mother's arms. "Poor kid hasn't slept right since all of this happened," Clint told them as he stood beside his family.

"She takes after her parents that way when it comes to danger, her senses heighten too," Steve commented.

Clint rubbed his daughter's arm as he looked over at Fury who was still lying awake in his hospital bed. "Nice to be noticed," Fury commented.

"What's our next plan of action?" Clint asked as he rested his hand on Natasha's good shoulder.

"We stop Operation Insight from happening," Steve replied standing up.

They moved their meeting into another room after Fury changed in normal clothes. Natasha was still holding the now sleeping Rowena in her arms and let out a sigh. "Agent Romanoff, we're going to have to ask if she could be removed from the room," Fury told her. Nodding her head slowly, she stood up with Rowena in her arms, handing her to another agent that was standing by the room. She pressed a kiss to her daughter's cheek and let out a deep breath.

"What happens now?" She asked, turning back to the little table of allies that were there.

She sat down again and Clint stood behind her. "We stop Hydra from taking control of everything, destroying everything we build," Steve answered. Clint rested his hand over her shoulder.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked.

Fury opened the box revealing three computer plates. "We need to change the plates they have on those ships and replace them with our own," he told them.

"Then instead of targeting civilians, they'll target each other," Hill answered

Staring at the plates, Clint listened to how it all had to go, that SHIELD and Hydra all had to go because no one could be trusted anymore. Fury looked at the two agents who had been silent through most of the meeting and Natasha looked at Fury. "We can't trust SHIELD anymore, the last thing I need is finding out someone's brainwashing my kid to become one of them. In fact if it weren't for Hill and me getting her out of there, they might be doing just that right now. Steve's right, SHIELD's gone, it's been gone since Howard's Stark's, maybe even before that," Clint stated.

"They're right," Hill murmured, looking at Fury.

Natasha gripped her husband's hand tightly, letting out a deep breath. "You ready for this, Barton? Going against people who you once considered your friends?" Steve asked.

"The people I care about are either in this room or sleeping back at my quarters," Clint answered, "As long as I have my family, I don't give a damn about anything else."

Natasha gripped her husband's hand, letting out a deep breath. "Let's do it," she told them.

**(The Helicopter)**

Clint held his bow as he walked over to the waiting helicopter and looked at his wife who was getting herself ready for her disguise as the councilwoman. "Good luck," she told him.

"You too," he answered.

He pulled her close and Natasha wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Clint held her tight, closing his eyes with a heavy sigh. "I love you," he told her.

"I love you," she whispered into his neck.

He kissed her forehead before he went to join Steve and Sam in the helicopter while she left to join the rest of the council.

**(Helicarrier A)**

Clint was running with Sam and Steve to get to his position. "Barton, just put the plate it and get out," Steve told him.

"I have no plans to die today," Clint replied.

He grabbed an arrow and fired it at a bunch of SHIELD Agents that were running at them. "I've got this handled," Clint told them, "Get out of here." Clint rolled across the ground as bullets were raining his way. Grabbing another arrow, he didn't even look at his target, firing. The arrow embedded itself into the neck of an agent and sparks shot out of the sides, electrocuting the agents around him. "Okay, need some time here," he thought to himself.

He hit a combination on his bow, the arrows changed. As he rushed around a corner, he ducked quickly when a tazer was aimed at his head. "God I hate those things," he muttered. He grabbed the tazer, throwing it back into the agent's face hard enough that he heard his nose crack. The man immediately fell to his feet in pain and Clint took the weapon, hitting him hard on the back of the head before he took the same tazer, throwing it to his left and it went into another agent's chest, shocking him and sent him to the ground screaming.

"Barton, where are you?" Hill asked.

"Working on it," Clint answered, "You know, you can sit there and rush but you're sitting in a room where no one knows where you are watching all of this. I have at least 100 of these assholes chasing my ass."

Clint jumped up onto a container, he took out an arrow, firing a shot into the ground and smoke flew out of the weapon, giving the former SHIELD Agent a chance to escape their line of sight.

Running to the core of the ship, he hit the combination and the computer plates appeared in front of him. Removing the plate in his pocket, he replaced theirs before walking away. "Alpha locked," he told Hill.

He ran outside and looked towards the sky where Sam and Steve were heading towards the last two Helicarriers. "It's up to you now guys, good luck," he told his friends. Just as he went to take off, he felt a sharp pain that went through his side that sent him to his knees.

"Barton, Barton can you hear me?" Hill asked into his earpiece

The pain was so excruciating he couldn't speak. "Clint, answer me!" Hill told him. He struggled to his feet.

"I've been hit," he told her.

He held his side, looking to his left to see the Winter Soldier walking his way. "Shit," he muttered, "The Winter Soldier is here, Hill. Son of a bitch shot me."

"Go to the extraction point," Hill told him.

"Working on it!" he snapped into the earpiece.

The Winter Soldier looked at him as he held his gun up. Clint pulled out another arrow, firing another smoke arrow that gave him time to escape.

Rushing outside, he took his bow and quiver, tossing them both into the nearest dumpster before jumping onto the motorcycle that was sitting outside, speeding off before the Winter Soldier could reach him.

Reaching the hospital, he removed his SHIELD jacket, throwing it into another trashcan, leaving him in a maroon colored t-shirt and black pants and boots. "I've been shot," he called out as he walked into the Emergency room. They got him onto a gurney just as his vision started to blur.

**(SHIELD Headquarters)**

Natasha was standing behind the computer, trying to unlock all the passwords so she could reveal Hydra's secrets as well as SHIELD's. "You ready for the world to see who you truly are?" Pierce asked.

"Are you?" Natasha asked.

"You think they will let you keep your kid if you unlock all of those secrets? You and Barton's kid would be placed in a foster home so fast it would make your little head spin," Pierce commented.

Natasha stayed silent as she continued typing away. "If you think threatening me with my daughter is going to change anything, it's not. I'm doing this for her, to protect her from monsters like you," she told him. Pierce was silent as he stared at the woman.

"Why risk your safety for a bunch of strangers?" Pierce demanded.

Natasha looked at him. "I'm risking my safety for freedom," she answered then she looked back at the computer screen.

**(After the Fight)**

Natasha was standing in the cemetery, holding Rowena on her hip. The three-year-old was holding the little arrow necklace in her tiny hand. "What will you do now?" Steve asked. Natasha smiled a little.

"All my covers are blown, time for me to go create a new one," she answered.

Rowena yawned, making her mother smile. "Natasha, thank you," Steve told her. She nodded with a small smile and she handed him a file that contained everything dealing with the Winter Soldier project. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"We're survivors, aren't we baby?" she asked, looking at Rowena.

"Yeah," she replied, making her mother smile softly.

"We're survivors, aren't we baby?" she asked, looking at Rowena.

"Yeah," she replied, making her mother smile softly.

Natasha kissed Steve's cheek before leaving the cemetery.

Walking through the gates, she saw a familiar black SUV sitting in front and her husband was leaning against it, waiting patiently. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready when you are," she replied.

She set Rowena on the ground and the three-year-old rushed over with her little arms wide open and Clint picked her up and got her into her car seat. He turned to Natasha and pulled her close, being careful with her shoulder while she was careful with his side. "Ready to start our lives together, Mrs. Barton?" he asked.

"For some reason, that's the one name that I can actually live with," she answered.

Chuckling, he leaned forward and kissed her tenderly. Natasha kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck before they pulled back and got into the car, driving off with their daughter to find their places in the world.


End file.
